The Rooftop of Africa

With a show of hands, how many of you are familiar with a country called Lesotho? Where is it located? How big is it? What are the biggest challenges that it is currently facing?

Before this year I would have to admit that the most I knew about Lesotho was that I had a shirt that was made there- and the only reason I knew that was because I wanted to know if I could put it in the dryer and while looking at the tag I thought to myself- where is that country? Probably somewhere by Russia, I can never keep that part of the world straight.

Lesotho (pronounced luh-sue-too) is a landlocked country inside of South Africa. It has the highest average elevation of any other country in the world and is therefore properly deemed “the rooftop of Africa.” This year eight other YAGM’S and I chose to spend our New Years in this small but beautiful country, and thus we came to know a little more about it’s culture, people, politics, and struggles.

Upon entering Lesotho through Maseru, I was shocked to see a U.S. embassy sitting right there, with a full-fledged golf course! I wondered, how many other countries does the US have an embassy in that I have never even heard of? Does my lack of knowledge show that I am an uninformed citizen or that my country has not properly informed me? Is it a little of both?

As we drove from Maseru further into the country to Roma, where we would spend the evening, we gazed out the window and listened intently as our taxi driver chatted away about everything we were seeing. I saw stone houses and rondolvos with thatched roofs, I saw people returning from a long day at work on a taxi, I saw cows herded in for the evening by men draped in traditional Lesotho blankets- all of this seemed familiar to the sights I have seen in South Africa, though with a slightly different flare. But then we came across huge factories amidst these villages which dominated the landscape and people around them. We were told these factories were owned by the US, China, and Germany and although the laborers were from Lesotho, the customers were far far away. Some made clothes (that explains my t-shirt), some made light bulbs- can you imagine working in a factory that makes light bulbs when you don’t even have electricity in your own home? I am not out to condemn these countries for their factories in Lesotho, I know absolutely nothing about working conditions or profits in any of these factories. I do know that these factories provide jobs which sustain many families in Lesotho. I am just observing the blatant contrast which I found in Lesotho between the traditional Lesotho life and the westernized culture which is infiltrating it. Our globalization is bitter sweet- it may create jobs and opportunities, but the cost is often a loss of unique culture in the country we affect.

In Lesotho I see a country which is still holding onto its tradition with all its might. I see the struggle of each Lesotho being confronted with a push for modernization, and being conflicted with how that changes their traditional lifestyles. I want them to hold on to tradition, but if the spread of modernization benefits their livelihoods and eases some of their struggles, especially with HIV/AIDS, I want that too. It’s hard to hold onto the past and move forward at the same time- but I hope Lesotho can do just that.

~Heather Anne Nelson